I.
INTRODUCTION
Impulse Radar Evaluation of
Asphalt-Covered Bridge Decks
1: CHUNG, Member, IEEE
C. R CARTER, Member, IEEE
McMaster University
Canada
E MASLIWEC
D. G. MANNING
Ministry of Tiansportation of Ontario
Canada
Deterioration due to heavy usage and severe climate is
presently taking place in tern of thousands of bridge decks in
the United States and Canada originally costing hundreds of
billions of dollars to construct. Testing has demorrstrated the
capability of impulse radar lo distinguish between areas of good
brldge deck and areas which suffer from one or more different
form of deterioration including delamination, scaling, and
debonding. It is also possible to use the radar signal to measure
t h thickness of asphalt and concrete cover over reinforcement.
These quantities are important in determining the amount of
material to be removed when resurfacing a bridge deck. The
calibration procedure and interpretation of radar waveform are
discussed in detail.
Manuscript received December 4, 1989; revised December 3, 1990.
IEEE Log No. 9103601.
Authors addresses: T. Chung and C. R. Carter, Communications
Research Laboratory, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, Lss 4K1; T Masliwec and D. G. Manning, Research and
Development Branch, Ministry of Thnsportation of Ontario, 1201
Wilson Ave.,Downsview, Ontario, Canada, M3M 1J8.
001&9251/926.3.00 @ 1992 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. 28, NO. 1 JANUARY 1992
Impulse radar is a special kind of radar which is
particularly useful in the remote sensing of objects that
are buried, encased in concrete or other material, or
hidden behind walls or other structures. The three
main characteristics of the impulse employed in this
project are: 1) the short temporal property (of the
order of 1 ns) which permits a very precise distance
measurement; 2) the carefully controlled shape of
the pulse which permits subpulsewidth duration
measurements to be performed; and 3) the absence
of a carrier, which eliminates the need for mixing, and
results in an advantage over conventional pulse radar
in that both the sign and magnitude of the reflection
coefficient can be measured when the wave reflects
from a boundary.
Impulse radar has been used in a wide variety of
applications [l]such as locating geological structures
[24], detecting underground pipes and cables [5],
measuring platform height above the Ocean surface
[6], and detecting cadavers [7, 81. Esting has also
demonstrated the capability of impulse radar to
identify deterioration in concrete bridge deck slabs
that are covered with bituminous surfacing [P-14].
In addition, it is possible to use the radar signal
to estimate the thickness of the asphalt and the
concrete cover over reinforcement. These quantities
are important in determining the amount of asphalt
and concrete to be removed when repairing a bridge
deck. Both the asphalt thickness and concrete cover
over reinforcement may vary on a bridge deck and no
simple method has previously existed to measure these
variations.
A large percentage of bridge decks in the United
States and Canada have bituminous surfacing.
Deterioration occurs mainly at or beneath the
asphalt-concrete interface and is of three types:
first, is debonding which results when the asphalt
layer separates from the concrete surface usually
producing a small gap; second, is scaling which is
induced by the freeze-thaw process causing the
disintegration of the concrete into a gravelly matrix;
and third, is delamination which occurs as a result of
the corrosion of the embedded reinforcement. This
delamination manifests itself as a fracture plane or
crack approximately parallel to the top surface of the
concrete and is located between the concrete surface
and the top layer of reinforcing bars (commonly called
rebars).
The Ministry of Pansportation of Ontario (MTO)
and the Communications Research Laboratory at
McMaster University have become actively involved
in the use of impulse radar as a tool to identlfy
and locate various forms of deterioration found in
asphalt-covered bridge decks through a program called
Deck Assessment by Radar Technology (DART). MTO
has outfitted a van, shown in Fig. l(a), with a Model
125

(b)
fig. 1. (a) h4TO van at bridge site with radar mounted. Boom on
front of van used for infrared camera. @) Detailed view of
antenna and radar transmiVreceive unit.
PS-24 impulse radar purchased from Penetradar Corp.
of Niagara Falls, New York; a fifth wheel for distance
measurement, and a multichannel instrumentation data
recorder for recording radar waveforms, radar trigger
pulses, and fifth wheel distance pulses. The radar
waveforms and distance measuring pulses recorded on
the data recorder are fed off-line to a microcomputer
system for signal analysis.
We show how the above mentioned impulse
radar can be exploited to provide information
concerning the condition of asphaltcovered
concrete bridge deck. By identifying the reflected
waveforms from the different layers, it is possible
to extract features of the deck such as asphalt
thickness, concrete cover over reinforcement,
and deterioration including delamination,
debonding and scaling. Since the signal-to-noise
ratio of the reflected waveforms is very high,
detection is not a problem and the usefulness of the
measurements is restricted only by the resolution
of the pulsewidth and the interference generated by
antenna internal reflections. The results contained
here have been verified for actual bridge decks when
the asphalt is removed and the deck is repaired,
In addition, we show how the radar signal can be
calibrated and how the antenna internal reflections
can be reduced in strength. This technique clearly
demonstrates the usefulness of impulse radar as a
diagnostic tool in nondestructive testing of bridge
decks.
126 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. 28,NO. 1 JANUARY 1992
- -r
II. IMPULSE RADAR A N D WAVEFORMS
A. The Radar
The impulse radar employed in this project is
monostatic with the antenna design being based on a
constant f lare-angle variable-width open horn. With
the end of the antenna 15 cm above the ground (see
Fig. l(b)), the footprint covers an area 40 cm by 25
cm, with the electric field being parallel to the narrow
dimension. The antenna is mounted with the larger
dimension giving width so that the swath produced
along a line covers the maximum area. The generated
signal is a monocycle, shown in Fig. 2(a), having a
pulsewidth of approximately 1ns and a repetition
rate of 5 million pulses/s. Essentially, the antenna
differentiates this monocycle producing the ideal
symmetric impulse shown in Fig. 2@). We note that
the negative going peaks at P and Q should be the
same magnitude and their average should be half the
amplitude of the peak at A in order to satisfy zero
average voltage. The reflected signal is sampled much
like in a sampling oscilloscope using the sliding gate
technique and producing an output voltage pulse
waveform of approximately 1 ms duration [15]. ?b
avoid confusion, all plots are presented using the
nanosecond scale.
The actual transmitted radar waveform can be
obtained by positioning the antenna directly over
a thin metal plate (which is much larger in extent
than the antenna footprint) placed on the asphalt
surface and obtaining the reflection, as illustrated
in Fig. 3. The peak at A represents the electric
field strength at the asphalt surface and provides a
calibration measurement for evaluating the relative
dielectric constant of asphalt which is needed for
the asphalt thickness measurement. This waveform
is not, however, the true reflected radar waveform.
We see that for an ideal transmitted radar signal, the
two negative peaks at P and Q are expected to have
comparable magnitude, as illustrated in Fig. 2(b),
and the portion from 0 ns to S and U to 20 ns in
Fig. 3 should be null. These imperfections are caused
by the reflections which are generated inside of the
antenna. In addition, when the antenna is mounted on
the van, further small changes to the waveform take
place due to the presence of the van itself. Thus, it
is necessary to remove these imperfections from the
received waveform in order to obtain an accurate radar
reflection.
B. Waveform Correction
One method for removing these imperfections
from the data set is to record the radar signature of
the imperfections alone producing an imperfection
set. This can be accomplished by locating the van on a
ramp thus raising the antenna well above ground level.
By recording the signal with the antenna at a suitable
~~~
- . ~ _ _
 V V

ns
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.E 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.E 1.0

(4 (b)
Fig. 2. (a) Monocycle waveform. (b) Impulse generated by differentiating monocycle.

V V

10.01 10.0-

E.0-

6.0-

4.0r

l . . . .. .. . I . . , . . . . .
. ns I
2. 4. 6. E . I O . 12. 14. 16. I E . 20. 2. 4. 6. E . 10. 12. 14. 16.

Fig. 3. Actual transmitted waveform with internal reflections. Fig. 4. Signature of internal reflections.
Note corrupting influence prior to point S and after point U.
Waveform between points P and Q is also affected.

this interval. This error also partially accounts for

height, no reflections occur in the range of interest
and the imperfection set can be recorded. In addition,
by positioning a metal plate at different heights, the
reflected waveform can be used as a calibration curve,
as discussed later.
For DART,Fig. 4 represents the transmitted signal
containing the imperfections of the system (noting
that the imperfection waveform is unique for the
radar antenna being mounted to the MTO van). We
see there is a substantial error in the 8 ns to 10 ns
range. This error affects the waveform measurements
because the surface reflection and reflection from
the asphaltconcrete interface frequently occur in
the unequal magnitudes of the two negative peaks in
Fig. 3.
The imperfection set is stored in computer
memory. Received radar signals are fed into the
computer as data set and the stored imperfection set
is subtracted yielding the corrected radar waveform.
Although both waveform sets are already time-aligned
prior to being fed into the computer by using the
radar sync signal, a small adjustment is required. Since
the recorded signal is digitized by analog-todigital
converter producing sampling time inaccuracies,
a direct subtraction of both waveforms does not
necessarily provide the true reflected waveform.

CHUNG ET AL.: IMPULSE RADAR EVALUATION OF ASPHALT-COVERED BRIDGE DECKS 127

 V
V

ANTENNA

8.0

4.0
'
4

2.0..ii
FLATPLATE
2.0

0.0- - - -
0.0 -2.0-

-4.0-

-6.0-

-8.0-
P V
-6.01 r
L I
2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 1
-8.01
Fig. 6. Corrected waveform reflected from metal plate at
L . I . I . I . I . , . I n s D = 0.54 m.
2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12.

Fig. 5. Corrected transmitted waveform.

Volt

Experiments show that improved results are

obtained if both signals, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, are

: :
aligned with respect to point R (called the reference
point). The error generated by the imperfections can
be further reduced by performing the subtraction for
: : :
10.0

9.0

8.0-
---

-- .___

three separate cases, namely, 1) Exact case: no shift 7.0-

--._...

of the data set with respect to the imperfection set; 6.0-

2) Left shift case: shift the data set one sample to the
5.0-
left with respect to the imperfection set; and 3) Right
shift case - shift the data set one sample to the right 4.0-

with respect to the imperfection set. The residue is 3.0-

computed in a rms sense from points R to S and is V = [a/(D + b)] volts ; a = 5.88 ; b = 0.464
compared for the three cases. 1.0

The subtracted waveform which has the minimum

residue is selected as the best estimated of true radar
reflection. This waveform is shown in Fig. 5 with the
time reference R of the signal being adjusted to 0
ns for the convenience of signal processing. We now
see that the average of the negative going peaks at P
and Q is approximately equal to half the amplitude
of the peak at A as expected for zero average voltage
although their individual magnitudes are not quite
equal. This procedure of waveform subtraction is
performed for each waveform in the signal analysis.
C. Waveform Calibration
The calibration measurement is performed by
raising the van on the ramp employed for measuring
imperfections. In this case, the metal plate is adjusted
to different heights above ground level giving different
distances between the end of the antenna and the
metal plate. Heights selected from the antenna end
to the metal plate surface D were varied from 1 cm to
1.45 m. Sample waveform is given in Fig. 6 for height
of D = 0.54 m. A plot of signal strength versus antenna
height D is provided in Fig. 7 along with the least
0.2 0.4 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
meters
Fig. 7. Calibration curve of signal strength for different heights
above flat plate.
squares fit which will be used for the calculations that
follow.
It is seen that the amplitude drops inversely with
height D.This calibratian is useful in two ways.
First, it shows that the antenna height should be
approximately 10 to 15 cm above the asphalt surface
in order to enjoy high signal strength. Second, it gives
an approximate value to the spatial loss through the
asphalt layer by simply multiplying by the square root
of the relative dielectric constant of asphalt, as is seen
later. For instance, if the antenna is 12 cm (point M
in Fig. 7) above the asphalt having relative dielectric
constant of 6 (both common values), then the loss in
amplitude due to spherical spreading after passing
through 10 cm of asphalt (point N in Fig. 7) reduces
the waveform peak from 10 V to approximately 7.2 V.
The use of calibration factors is demonstrated in the
discussion.

128 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. 28,NO. 1 JANUARY 1992

- -~
I
~ ~

IN C INTERFACE
AIR FEF A
/ d 1 C
TRANS
ASPHALT
--INC c.
( [) REBARS ( ) 0
BOTTOMOF BRIDGE DECK
\ Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Bridge deck structure showing transmission through and
reflections from different boundaries.
I I I. WAVEFORM ANALYSlS
A. Heuristic Approach
It is possible to gain some insight as to the type
of waveform to be expected by simply considering
the transmission and reflection of the radar impulse
traveling from air into asphalt and reflecting from
the boundary, into concrete and reflecting from the
boundary, and reflecting off the rebars. For example,
consider the structure of Fig. 8 illustrating asphalt over
concrete which contains rebars. When the incident
electric field reflects from the asphalt surface, there
is a 180 degree phase shift since the relative dielectric
constant of asphalt (approximately 6) is higher than
that of air (unity). The incident wave propagates
through the asphalt resulting in another reflection at
the asphaltconcrete interface again with a 180 degree
phase shift relative to the incident wave since the
relative dielectric constant for concrete (approximately
8) is usually higher than that of asphalt. The incident
wave continues to propagate through the concrete
to the layer of rebars where a third reflection occurs
also with a 180 degree phase shift relative to the
incident wave. We note that this simple analysis is
applicable since the waveform calibration has shown
that essentially no distortion of the waveform occurs
for the range of distances utilized.
Normally, the matte of rebars forms a crosshatch
pattern with a nominal spacing between bars of 20 cm.
Reflection from the rebars depends on the relative
locations of the antenna footprint and the rebars. If
the center of the footprint is over the cross of the
rebars, the reflection is stronger while if the footprint
is over the center of the hole, the reflection is weaker.
Values of the reflection coefficient, at the rebars,
have been found to range from -0.04 to -0.07 as
determined by measurements on sample test blocks.
The resulting waveforms are shown in Fig. 9
where we see that the reflections from the air-asphalt
CHUNG ET AL.: IMPULSE RADAR EVALUATION OF ASPHALT-COVERED BRIDGE DECKS
REFLECTED SIGNAL
t EC"o CONCRETE-ASPHALT
REBARS
D
I
Fig. 9. Expected reflections from undamaged bridge structure of
interface, the asphalt-concrete interface and the
rebars all have the same orientation, namely 180
deg out of phase with the incident electric field.
Adding these three waveforms leads to the composite
waveform shown which has an initial peak at A from
the air-asphalt interface, a second peak at C from the
asphalt-concrete interface, and a third peak at D due
to the reflection from the rebars. The negative peak at
B is interesting since it is a measure of the overlap of
the transient portions of the surface reflection and the
asphalt-concrete reflection.
Since the radar converts electric field into voltage,
the equation for the reflected signal voltage for good
structure, r G ( t ) , is given by,
r G ( t ) = PlS(t) 4- p2(1 - p:)CFls(f.- 2Tas)
+ p3(1- &)(I - p:)CF2s(t - 2Tas - 2Tco)
(1)
where
Incident signal voltage
Reflection coefficient from air to asphalt
Reflection coefficient from asphalt to
concrete
Reflection coefficient due to rebars
embedded in concrete
One-way time delay in asphalt of thickness
Das
One-way time delay in concrete of thickness
Dco
Calibration factor for the reflection from
the asphaltconcrete interface
Calibration factor for the reflection from
the concrete-rebar interface
The calibration factors relate to the calibration
curve of Fig. 7 as is discussed later.
Normally, the asphalt thickness lies in the
range of 50 to 150 mm and the concrete cover
over reinforcement is of the order of 60 mm. Thus,
waveforms of the type shown in Fig. 9 should be
typical for asphalt-covered concrete bridge decks. Also,
129

it is seen that the reflections from the asphalt-concrete
interface and the rebars produce a W-shaped waveform
which we call the characteristic W . Clearly, as
the thickness of concrete over the rebars varies,
the separation of the two sides of the W changes.
Nevertheless, if the structure between the concrete
surface and the rebars has no faults, there should be
no other reflections between the two portions of the
W. If, on the other hand, faults do occur, then the
W shape will be distorted. This particular signature
is, of course, unique to the class of radars using the
same type of antenna and employing the same shape
of transmitted pulse. Nevertheless, we show that this
characteristic W is useful in identifying the difference
between good and delaminated concrete, as discussed
later.
The reflection coefficients can be calculated,
assuming lossless material, by the well-known relation
where ZL is the load impedance and 2 s is the intrinsic
impedance of the source medium. In this project,
it was found that the relative dielectric constant of
asphalt ranged from 5 to 7 with a value of 6 being
quite common while the relative dielectric constant
of concrete ranged from 7 to 10 with the value of 8
being prevalent. The impedances for air, asphalt with
a typical relative dielectric constant of 6, and concrete
with typical relative dielectric constant of 8 are 377 R,
154 0, and 133 R, respectively. Thus, the values of pl
and p are -0.42 and -0.07 with p3 being found from
independent tests to range from -0.04 to -0.07.
From Fig. 9 and (l),we see that if the signal
incident on the asphalt surface has value of -10 V
then the amplitude at A is 4.20 V and the amplitude
at C will be approximately 0.58 V.The amplitude at D
ranges from 0.33 V to 0.57 V. (Since the larger value of
this reflection is easier to detect, the lowest value will
be used in the following material).
B. Thickness of Asphalt and Concrete Cover Over
Rebars
The thickness of asphalt (Das)is simply the product
of half the time delay from peaks A to C (2Tas), and
the velocity of propagation in asphalt ( c / G ) where c
is the velocity of light and Em is the relative dielectric
constant of asphalt which can be determined using
relations in (5) and (6),
Tad
Das= -
(3)
G*
Since the sampling rate used for the radar signal is
250oO samplesh, the asphalt thickness in millimeters
becomes,
6Mas
Das= z m m (4)
130 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. 28, NO. 1 JANUARY 1992
- ~ ~ _ _ _ _ _ ~ _ _
V
. 0 * 5
5. 6. 7. E. 9.10.11.12.
Fig. 10. Real mflected waveform from area of undamaged bridge
deck. Note distinct reflections at A, C, and D from asphalt
surface, concrete surface, and rebars, respectively.
where Ma, is the number of samples between peaks A
and C. It is noted that the resolution in evaluating the
thickness of asphalt according to (4) is restricted by
the pulsewidth of the impulse radar signal. We found
that if the asphalt thickness exceeds 30 mm and Easis
at least equal to 6, there is little difficulty in evaluating
a s .
Actual comparisons of radar measured asphalt
thickness and core samples show an accuracy of
approximately f 5 percent to f8 percent. When the
asphalt thickness is less than 30 mm, the surface
reflection and asphaltconcrete boundary interface
reflection interfere thus reducing the accuracy.
The relative dielectric constant of asphalt can be
calculated by frst measuring the reflection coefficient
at the air-asphalt interface (i.e., PI). We note that p1
is the negative of the ratio of the voltage amplitude at
peak A ( V 2 ) from the air-asphalt interface divided by
the amplitude at peak A (VI) from metal plate which
are both measured values. Thus,
p1= --.v2
V1
Once the value of pl is determined, it is an easy matter
to calculate EaPs
through the relation,
&as = [Z] 2
*
From actual measurements, the composition of
asphalt is found to vary from area to area. Thus, it is
necessary to calculate as for each location.
The relative dielectric constant of concrete cannot
be measured through the asphalt layer so easily
since, as mentioned before, scattering and spherical
spreading losses affect the amplitude. However the
___~ ~~ -~~ ~~
 sample p t s
200.0
190.0
160.0-
170.0
140.0-
1
3
0.
0
-
120.0-
110.0
317. 19. 21. 23. 25.
Fig. 11. Relative locations of peaks A, C, and D with respect to system trigger for 30 m distance along one line of bridge deck.
thickness of concrete cover over reinforcement can be
estimated using (4) by noting the number of samples,
M,,, between peaks C and D, with an assumed value
of the relative dielectric constant of concrete, E,,
(typically S), replacing Eas.
C. Radar Signature from Good Bridge Deck
The radar waveform obtained from a good area
of an asphaltcovered bridge deck is illustrated in
Fig. 10. (It is noted that this waveform is corrected
by subtracting the imperfection set as previously
discussed). The metal plate reflection was found to
be 10 V. The reflections from each boundary are
indicated on the plot: peak A (4.25 V) is the reflection
from the air-asphalt interface; peak C (0.35 V) is the
reflection from the asphalt-concrete boundary; peak D
(0.34 V) is the reflection from the rebars. The relative
dielectric constant of asphalt is 6.22 (from (5) and (6))
and there are about 23 samples between peaks A and
C. Consequently, the asphalt thickness (from (4)) is
55 mm.
The characteristic W, illustrated in Fig. 10, appears
in the waveform as expected. If delamination occurs
in this region, then the W-shaped reflection becomes
distorted as described later.
The calibration factor, CF1 (in (l)),for the
reflection from the asphalt-concrete boundary, can
now be calculated using the overall signal strength
curve given for the antenna in Fig. 7. It is noted that
the antenna is at 12 cm (point M ) above the asphalt
having E, = 6.22, then the loss in amplitude due to
spherical spreading after passing through 55 mm of
asphalt (point P) reduces the waveform peak from
10 V to approximately 8.20 V. Thus, CF1 is measured
to be 0.82. Using the second term in (l), with an
CHUNG ET AL.:IMPULSE RADAR EVALUATION OF ASPHALT-COVERED BRIDGE DECKS
I
Pt h C
27. 29. 31. 33. 35. 37. 39. 41.
meters
43. 45.
incident wave of -10 V and the reflection coefficients
for p1 and p2 being -0.42 and -0.07 respectively,
the reflection at peak C should be approximately
0.47 V. From Fig. 10, the reflection at peak C is seen
t o be 0.35 V which is approximately 75 percent of
the predicted value. This discrepancy can easily be
explained by noting that the negative transient at B has
reduced the level at peak C.
Usually, hundreds of meters of radar waveforms are
collected for DART, with each waveform indicating
20 cm displacement along a bridge deck. Therefore,
an automatic procedure is used to search for the
reflection peaks A, C and D and the results, from a
selected section of an asphaltcovered bridge deck, are
shown in Fig. 11. The locations of peaks A, C and D
are given in term of point samples and are plotted as a
function of the fifth wheel distance.
We note that curve A (peaks of A) is relatively
constant whereas curves C and D, representing peaks
of C and D, respectively, vary with respect to the
asphalt thickness and concrete cover. It is noted that
Fig. 11 provides the value for parameters M , (which
is the difference between curves A and C) and M,,
(which is the difference between curves C and D)
as required by (4). Thus, the asphalt thickness and
concrete cover can be computed.
IV. RADAR SIGNATURE DUE TO DETERIORATION
The radar signature for undamaged bridge deck
is relatively simple to interpret since the reflections
are quite distinct. This is also true where scaling
occurs since the reflection at the asphalt-concrete
boundary is very strong. However, with debonding
and delamination the interpretation is more complex.
These problems are now discussed in detail.
131
 COMPONENT
REFLECTED
SIGNALS

SURFACEECHO
I S U R F A C E ECHO
A
R E F L E C T I O N FROM
S C A L E D CONCRETE

TOTAL
REFLECTED
TOTAL

t REFLECTED SIGNALS
SIGNAL
R E F L E C T I O N FROM
S U R F A C E EC"O S C A L E D CONCRETE
S U R F A C E ECHO I A

(b) (b)
Fig. 12 Reflections from scaled concrete containing air. Fig. 13. Reflections from scaled concrete containing water.
(a) Component waveforms. @) %tal reflected waveform. (a) Component waveforms. @) Btal reflected waveform.

V
A. Scaling

Scaling reduces the concrete to a gravelly matrix

5*0r------
which may contain either air or water. Since the scaled
concrete affects only the interface between asphalt
and concrete, it is clear that the reflection from the
asphalt surface will remain essentially unchanged. We
assume that the reflection from the boundary between
the asphalt and the scaled region is due to a single
reflection since: 1)if the scaled material is gravel
and air, then reflection from the gravel is probably
highly dispersive, and 2) if the scaled material contains
water, then the propagation would probably be lossy
due to salt and other contaminants. There may be
other reflections following the scaled peak but these
are ignored since: 1) the detection of scaled concrete
indicates serious damage, and 2) additional reflections I . . . . . n . . . . - ' . ' . ns
5. 6. 7. 8. 9.10.11.12.
may be difficult to interpret due to propagation
through the scaled material Thus, the reflected signal Fig. 14. Actual reflection from scaled region. Note high level of
is the sum of the surface reflection and the reflection peak C.
from the asphalt, scaledconcrete boundary and given
by?
respectively. Thus, the value of ps = -p1 = 0.42.
r ~ ( t=) P I S I ( ~ )+ P S ( ~- p : ) ~ ~ ~ -s 2Tas)
(t (7) Hence, the reflection not only changes polarity with
respect for good asphalt-concreteinterface, but the
where ps is the reflection coefficient from the magnitude of the reflection is also greatly increased, as
boundary. With air in the gap, the reflection shown in Fig. 12.
coefficient can be obtained from (2). The impedances When water is present, ps = -0.57 (the impedance
for air and asphalt (Ea* = 6) are 377 $2and 154 R, for water is 41.8 $2)which also produces a large

132 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. 28,NO. 1 JANUARY 1992

~ ~ __ . -~
 volt

1.5

17. 19. 21. 23. 25. 27. 29. 31. 33. 35. 37. 39. 41. 43. 45.
meters
Rg. IS. Curve showing amplitude of peak C. Values in excess of 0.75 V usually indicate scaling whereas values below 0.5 V are usually
not scaled.

INCIDENT WAVE B. Debonding

SURFACE REFLECTION FROM ASPHALT

\ / Debonding results when the asphalt layer becomes

detached from the concrete producing a small gap.
However, the reflection from the asphalt-conaete
interface is altered producing a reflected waveform
with either increased or decreased magnitude at peak
C depending on the material filling the gap.
With no gap, the reflection from the
asphalt-concrete interface is (second term right-hand
side of (l)),
rl(t) = p2(1- pT)CFrs(t - 2Tns). (8)
With the gap, there are multiple reflections, as
illustrated in Fig. 16. We assume that the material
in the gap is lossy so that the magnitude of each
reflection is reduced in an exponential manner. The
reflection from the top of the gap is given by,

Fig. 16. Ray diagram illustrating multiple reflections from gap Q O ( ~=) P G ~(1 - pi)CFls(t - 2Tas) (9)
between asphalt and concrete. Rays are drawn at angle simply to where p ~ is, the reflection coefficient from asphalt
demonstrate reflections.
to material in the gap. The first reflection from the
bottom of the gap is,
reflection, this time with the same polarity, as rll(t) = pGze-'l(l-p~I)(1-pT.)CFls(t-2Tas-2T,p)
illustrated in Fig. 13. Since it is not known a priori
(10)
whether the scaled material contains water or air, it
is useful to measure the value at peak C and identify where p~~ is the reflection coefficient from material
values much larger than normal. in the gap to concrete, Tgapis the one-way time delay
This is the result observed in Fig. 14, which in the gap of thickness Dgap,and (Y is the loss factor
illustrates the reflection from a region of known through layer D p p .
scaling of a bridge deck. The value at peak C (1.06 V) The second reflection from the bottom of the gap
is far higher than those measured from any good is,
bridge deck. The amplitude of peaks C from Fig. 11 2
are plotted in Fig. 15. The high values around the 16m, r12(t) = - P G , P G ~ ~ --~p ~ l - P?>
& )(( ~
21m, and 3Om locations indicate regions of scaling. x CFls(t - 2Tas - 4Tgap). (11)

CHUNG E T AL.: IMPULSE RADAR EVALUATION OF ASPHALT-COVERED BRIDGE DECKS 133

 Thus, the reflected signal for N such reflections is COMPONENT
REFLECTED
given by

rGN(t) = 'lO(f) + 'll(t) + rlZ(t) + + rlh'(f)

* * *
TI SIGNAL

CONCRETE-ASPHALT
INTERFACE

[
E
= (1 - P:)CFI PG1S ( f - 2zs) I-(1 - &,) REBARS

N
x ~ { e - n " ( - l ) n " ~ ~ 2 p ~ ~-
n=l
' s2T,,
(t
1
- 2nTw)}

(12)
\ DEL
REFLECTION FROM
AMI N A T ION

Since the gap is usually narrow (about 0.1 to 0.5 mm), (8)
then the reflection from the gap can be estimated as a TOTAL
single reflection, REFLECTED
SIGNAL

S(t - 2Ta - 2nTpp) S ( t - 22"s). (13) CONCRETE-ASPHALT

INTERFACE

Thus, the sum can now be computed in closed form

and for N very large yields,

~ G ( c=
) PEP(^ - P : ) C F I ~-(2~as)
~ (14)
where p ~ is
p the effective reflection coefficient of the
gap,
I NO CHARACTERISTIC W

(b)
The material filling the gap could either be air or
Fig. 17. Reflections from structure with delamination containing
water. For examples: 1) if the gap is filled with air air. (a) Component waveforms. @) 'Ibtal reflected waveform.
and we know that the intrinsic impedances for air,
asphalt and concrete are 377 R, 154 R, and 133 R, COMPONENT
respectively, then from (2) the values of p ~ and , p~~
tI
REFLECTED
SIGNAL
are calculated to be 0.42 and -0.48. If the value of
e-u is arbitrary taken to be 0.94 (which corresponds to
CONCRETE-ASPHALT
a 6 percent or 0.5 dB loss in amplitude per reflection), INTERFACE
then from (U), we find that PEF = -0.04. If the
incident signal again has value of -10 V, then the peak
at A has amplitude equal to 4.20 V and the peak at
C (from (14) with CF1 = 0.82) is 0.27 V, and 2) if the
gap is filled with water and we know that the intrinsic
impedance for water is 41.8 R, then from (2) p~~ and
p~~ are calculated to be -0.57 and 0.52, respectively.
From (15), ~ E is F measured to be -0.113. Again, if the
incident signal is -10 V, then peak A is 4.20 V and
peak C is 0.76 V. TOTAL
REFLECTED
It is believed that if the gap is filled with material SIGNAL

other than air or water, then the amplitude at peak C CONCRETE-ASPHALT

varies between 0.76 V to 0.27 V. Usually,even a thin I INTERFACE
C
REBARS
debonding can result in a significant change in the
amplitude of the reflection from the asphalt-concrete
boundary. Note that the polarity of the reflection from
the debond does not change, however.

C. Delamination HIGHLY ACCENTUATED

CHARACTERISTIC W

Delamination occurs in the region between the (b)

surface of the concrete and the first layer of rebars. Fig. 18. Reflections from structure with delamination containing
As stated above, a surface plane (crack of width 0.1 to water. (a) Component waveforms. (b) Total reflected waveform.

-
134

- IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. 28, NO. 1 JANUARY 1992

__ ~___ ~~ -~ __-_____
 V
rebars. Thus,
5.0 r D ( t ) = p2(1-p?)CFls(t-2Tas)
+ P E F ( -~ - p:)CFds(t - 2Tas - 2Td)
+ P3(1 - P h I ( 1 - P W - P 3
x CFzs(t - 2T, - 2Td - 2Tm) (17)
where PEF is calculated using (15) and Td is the
one-way time delay between the concrete surface and
the delamination, and CFd is the calibration factor for
the reflection from the delamination.
We now provide some sample calculations. The
effective reflection coefficient assuming air in the
crack (and e-a = 0.94, for example) can be calculated
noting that p~~ = - P G ~ = 0.48.Hence, PEF = 0.04. For
L . , . # . .. . , . 1 ns
I .
the three terms in (17), the amplitude (assuming the
5 . 6. 7. 8. 9 . 1 0 . 1 1 . 1 2 .
incident signal has magnitude of -10 V and CF1 =
Fig. 19. Actual reflection from delaminated region. Note absence
of characteristic W.
CF2 = CFd = 0.82) are 0.48 V, -0.27 V,and 0.27 v,
respectively, as illustrated in Fig. 17. It is clear that the
characteristic W presented in the good structure is now
0.5 mm) develops in the concrete which may contain absent due to the delamination.
air or water leading to a discontinuity between the When the crack contains water, = -PG~=
concrete surface and the rebars. With no delamination, -0.52, resulting in the value of ~ E being
F -0.04. Now,
the asphalt-concrete interface and the rebars produce the three terms in (17) all have the same sign resulting
reflections given by in the waveforms of Fig. 18. In this case, there is a
greatly exaggerated W, but this is quite distinguishable
for the normal W .
Fig. 19 shows the radar reflection due to
delamination. It is found that from the waveform, the
+ p ~ ( 1 -&)(I - P:)CF2S(t - 2Tas - 2Tco). characteristic W is poorly defined or absent between
(16) peaks C and D. This particular feature can b e used as
an identification for delamination.
With delamination, we have reflections from the A simple procedure has been developed to
asphalt-concrete interface, the delamination and the determine the presence of the characteristic W .

sign changes

1.0 1
17. 19. 21. 23. 25. 27. 29. 31. 33. 35. 37. 39. 41. 43. 45.
meters
Fig. 20. Plot of sign changes between peaks C and D for data of Fig. 11. Normally, for good deck the number of sign changes is 3 or 4.
For delaminated deck, the number of sign changes is 2.

CHUNG E T AL.: IMPULSE RADAR EVALUATION OF ASPHALT-COVERED BRIDGE DECKS 135

I
The method is based on the number of slope sign
changes between the two peaks. If the number of
sign changes is two, then the waveform is said to
exhibit delamination. If the number of sign changes is
greater than two, then the waveform is said to be good
provided that the center peak is not exaggerated. A
plot of the sign changes, from the waveforms obtained
from a section of asphalt-covered bridge deck, is given
in Fig. 20. The result indicates that the bridge deck has
a high percentage of deterioration due to delamination.
V. CONCLUSION
Impulse radar can be employed as a remote sensing
device for asphalt-covered bridge deck and is useful
in identifying faults such as scaling, delamination,
and debonding. As well, the impulse radar provides
a means for measuring the thickness of asphalt and
the depth of concrete cover over reinforcement.
However, an important first step is to ensure that
the received radar data is free of imperfections. This
is accomplished by recording the imperfections in a
separate measurement and subtracting these from the
bridge deck data sets.
REFERENCES
[l] IEE Proceedings, Pt. F,Communication, Radar and Signal
profcssng (1988).
Special issue on Subsurface Radar, 135,4 (Aug. 1988).
(21 DeLauder, D. M.,and Balanis, C. A. (1982)
Microwave short-pulse generator for bed-level detection.
IEEE lhnsactiOnr on Instnunentation and Measurement,
IM-31,4 (D~c. 198% 27S278.
[3] Moffatt, D. L., and Puskar, R J. (1976)
Subsurface electromagnetic pulse radar.
Geqdysia, 41,3 (June 1976), 506-517.
[4] Daniels, D. J. (1980)
Short pulse radar far stratified lossy dielectric layer
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IEE Pr~~eedings, PL F, CmUnication, Radar and Signal
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[s] Caldecott, R.,Rnuoli, A. J., and Hall, J. P. (1979)
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system using impulse radar.
In ProceeaYngs of the 7th IEEEIPES T r m n and
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[q Yaplee, B. S., Shapiro, A. S., Hammond, D. L., Au, B. D., and
Uliana, E. A. (1971)
Nanosecond radar observations of the ocean surface from
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1971), 170-174.
136 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL.28,NO. 1 JANUARY 1992
Alongi, A. V. (1973)
A short-pulse high-resolution radar for cadaver detection.
In Proceedings of the First International Electronic Crime
Countermeasures Conference, 1973,7947.
lbdesse, A. T. (1973)
Cadaver detection.
In P r m d n g s of the First International Electronic Crime
Countermeasures Conference, 1973,61-78.
Manning, D. G.,and Holt, E B. (1983)
Detecting deterioration in asphaltcovered bridge decks.
Tramportation Research Record 899,Washington, D.C.,
Jan. 1983, 1&20.
Steinway, W. J., Echard, J. D., and Luke, C. M.(1981)
Locating voids beneath pavement using pulsed
electromagneticwaves.
Report 237, National Cooperative Highway Research
Program, 'Ransportation Research Board, Washington,
DC, Nov. 1981.
Alongi, A. V.,Cantor, T. R., Kneeter, C. P., and Alongi, A. J.
(1982)
Concrete evaluation by radar theoretical analysis
Tramportation Research Record 853, Washington, DC, Jan.
1982,31-37.
Cantor, T. R., and Kneeter, C. P. (1982)
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TransportationResearch Record 853, Washington, DC, Jan.
1982,3742.
Cantor, T. R., and Kneeter, C. P. (1977)
Radar and acoustic emission applied to the study of bridge
decks, suspension cables and a masonry tunnel.
Report 77-13, The Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, Engineering Dept., Research and Development
Division, Dec. 1977.
Carter, C. R., Chung, T., Holt, E B., and Manning, D. G.
(1%)
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Canadan Electrical Engineering Journal, 11,3 (1986),
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Alongi, A. V.,and Alongi, A. J. (1977)
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Report PTR-0677, Penetradar Corp., 6865 Walmore Road,
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b u s , J. D., and Carver, K. R. (1973)
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 Thomas Chung (S76-M83) received the B. Eng., M. Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from
McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada in 1980, 1982, and 1988, respectively.
In 1983, he joined the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) at McMaster
University as a Research Engineer and has worked in the areas of digital signal processing,
radar, and satellite-based systems. He is now a Senior Research Engineer in CRL where
he investigates new techniques applied to the processing of impulse radar signals.

Charles R Carter (M74) received the B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degrees in electrical
engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada in 1%2 and 1966,
respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada in 1974.
From 1966 to 1971, he was employed at Canadian General Electric Company in
B r o n t o where he researched advanced constant false-alarm rate receiver systems for
radar.
Since 1974 he has worked in the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering at
McMaster University where he is currently a Professor. His research interests include
the fields of radar, satellite-based systems and signal processing where he has over 100
published papers and reports.
In 1982, he received the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Certificate of
Appreciation for outstanding teaching and, in 1983 and 1987, was the MSU Faculty of
Engineering Eaching Award Winner, for teaching excellence.

Tony Masliwec received the B.A.Sc. degree in engineering science and the M A . and Ph.D.
degrees in physics all from the University of Ibronto, Toronto, Canada.
H e joined the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario in 1985 where he is currently
a Research Scientist. His research interests lie in the application of remote sensing
technologies and instrumentation to highway engineering problems.

David G . Manning received the BSc. (Eng.) degree from the University of London,
England, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Queens University, Kingston, Canada,
all in Civil Engineering.
He joined the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario in 1972 where he is presently
Head, Materials Research. His interests include improvements to the durability of
new bridges and the development of techniques and a decision methodology for the
rehabilitation of existing bridge decks.
H e is the author of more than 60 articles published in Canada, the United States, and
Europe including five reports in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program
(NCHRP) Synthesis of Highway Practice Series. H e is active in a number of organizations
including the Pansportation Research Board, the American Concrete Institute (ACI),
the Strategic Highway Research program, the Canadian Strategic Research Program and
the Comite Euro-International du Beton. He is also the recipient of a number of awards,
including ACIs Delmar L. Bloem Distinguished Service Award in 1987.

CHUNG ET AL.: IMPULSE RADAR EVALUATION O F ASPHALT-COVERED BRIDGE DECKS 137